The Great Invite

       As previously promised, I present to you all that is Chuseok. Chuseok can be referred to as the ‘Korean Thanksgiving’ and is celebrated on the brightest full moon of the year which occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar. Contrary to Western society, Koreans still use the lunar calendar for important dates, leading to a number of holidays centered around the moon and its cycle. For 2012, the day of Chuseok falls on September 30th. Chuseok is essentially a celebration of a good harvest, as it’s the time of year that grains and fruits will be at their ripest and freshest. To celebrate a year of successful farming, families will migrate to their ancestral hometowns and 본 가역 (directly translated to ‘main house’, usually the home of the eldest head of the household) where they will dress up in traditional clothing, cook an abundance of food, and pay their respects to their ancestors.

      As I've come to notice, respect for the elderly is of high importance for Koreans. Chuseok isn't simply a feast celebration, as there are three major duties that must be completed:

   -Weeds that have grown around the graves of family members all summer long must be picked and discarded. This is an especially important task for families because Koreans place a great deal of emphasis on saving face before the public. Graves with weeds still growing around them after the Chuseok holiday will make others assume that they have undutiful children, and it's considered an embarrassment to the family name.

   -Respect must be paid to the grave, often in the form of deeply bowing before it and offering grain alcohol, fruits, and meat.

   -An elaborate table setting of food offered to the ancestors. There are several meticulous steps in setting things properly - like lighting candles before the alcohol is poured into three different cups and bowing twice afterwards. Each dish also has a specific area of the table as per this educational diagram...

      So I've received an offer from a Korean co-teacher to spend Chuseok, the country's largest and most important holiday, with his sister, him, and their grandparents in an isolated countryside village from which his grandparents and great grandparents hail. My slight apprehension to this invitation is that I haven't worked with him for a very long time as he began at Worwick Franklin weeks after I did. And it's not that I don't trust him, it's just a lot of pressure to be one of the few, perhaps only, foreigner ever seen by the people of this village, and definitely by his grandparents. Not to mention they will be taking me in for the holiday, feeding me, entertaining me, and allowing me to sleep there. But how can one pass up such an incredible opportunity?! So off I go in hopes that I will not disgrace but honor my family's name and display the utmost of southern hospitality when Luling and Gangjeong-ri collide for Chuseok 2012.

Stream of Consciousness Part II

      So I apologize for the delay in writing. Sometimes I feel compelled to write and ideas flow freely. Other times, interesting events happen and stories beg to be told. And then there are times when school is cancelled on a Monday because of a typhoon and you're excited about your 4 day week only to realize it has been the longest week of your life. There was no particular reason why; it wasn't overly chaotic (at least no more than the usual standard set by Korean life) or overly difficult. Time just apparently slowed to an almost complete halt.

     While looking for anything positive, I discovered that if I survive the current week, next week the Republic of Korea will celebrate the holiday known as Chuseok. It's basically the "great middle of autumn" festival that takes place over 3 days. Much more on this later but I am looking forward to a 5 day weekend and only 2 work days in the upcoming week. I can't foresee any way that it'd be possible to draw this week out as long as the last. My only obstacle will be Monday morning when I have my first Parent/Teacher Meeting with the mothers of my two three four five students (my class has grown by 250%). This minor hurdle is of no concern to me and will be done by the time you read this.

     With nothing else of noteworthy importance to report, I'll leave you with my second stream of consciousness writing. Enjoy.

     Back home I was a terrible sleeper. I've never been able to fall asleep when I wanted or needed to and I've never entirely slept through a night. Upon arriving in Korea, I was actually sleeping great for the first time that I can remember. That has stopped now. I'm back to staying up way too late and waking up way too early. And if that isn't tough enough, I probably wake up 5 to 10 times each night. The only interesting thing to this affliction is that I have and can remember all of my dreams in an incredibly lucid fashion. So here's the interesting part – my dreams have now incorporated Korean life in them. The people and places are slowly become part of my subconscious. I'd imagine it's due to the constant exposure to it and the lack of exposure to anyone and anything from the life I once knew. I'm sure Freud would be able to offer insight to the current state of my ego, super-ego, and id through this new dreaming pattern.

     As for my ever-growing list of things that I miss that I've been compiling (of which I'm sure I'll eventually write out on here), I'd like to add the (good) local art and artists of southern Louisiana. The young, dirty, contemporary artists that struggle each day; those who you'd never know unless you knew them. One who I'm genuinely intrigued by is Adam Montegut. I highly suggest you keep up with him via his blog and you'd be insane to live anywhere in the realm of New Orleans and let anyone else tattoo you. For some reason, I'm particularly fond of this blog post of his.

     Finally, I enjoy random late night jogs through an arboretum near my apartment. It's the closest place to run my toes through grass, sit under a tree, and listen to the trickle of flowing water.

The land of the morning calm

      As I type this, Typhoon Sanba is making landfall upon Busan, South Korea. Currently a category 1 storm, Sanba was a category 5 just 2 days ago. Fortunately, like most huge hurricanes, Sanba violently collapsed in on itself. While Busan has been experiencing the feeder bands for the last few days, as of now it is the wind, not the rain, that is the most prevalent force.

      Rather than walk the beach to take photos like last time, I decided to venture in a different direction to witness the approaching storm. I hiked the jagged and rugged coast of Igidae, a protected preserve and chain of islands nearby. This is a truly awe-inspiring place. Hidden outside of this enormous city and its chaotic inner workings, it's no wonder these remote mountains and coasts where the chosen locations of Buddhist monks when constructing their temples.

      The history of Igidae is just as interesting and incredible and the landscape and views themselves. When the Japanese invaded Joseon in the late 16th century, they conquered Suyeongseong Fortress and held a feast to celebrate their victory. The high cliffs and open views of the coast were chosen as a more-than-suitable-enough spot due to their serenity. Two enslaved Korean gisaengs (female professional entertainers) were taken to the feast to entertain the Japanese men for the night. After a belligerent night, they seized the drunken Japanese commander during the festivities and jumped off the mountain and into the sea with him as a reprisal against the Japanese invasion of their homeland. Thus the name Igidae, which means two gisaeng, was given to this place in commemoration.

A day in the life of...

      Amongst the ridiculously long hours and constant struggle with how Koreans deem what is and isn't proper child development, behavior, etc., I do attempt to have fun whilst at Worwick Franklin.  Below is a documentation of how my off period was spent this Thursday.
      I was told to watch one of my students who was kicked out of class by my Korean co-teacher due to his behavior.  In the past, I've been told by more than one Korean teacher that he has a learning disability (but in fairness to them, they don't believe children have ADD, ADHD, or Autism, they merely think there are natural or holistic cures that could be used as medication to help these "problem children").  Upon his arrival, I was told he knew no English and our first day wasn't even spent together due to his incessant crying because I was the first foreigner he'd ever seen.  Day two was almost just has challenging.  Fast forward three weeks...

Welcome to the good life

      The next time we see each other, things may look slightly different. Maybe it'll be the monocle for my right eye. Maybe it'll be the Cuban cigar in my left hand and the 60 year old glass of Glenfiddich in my right. Perhaps it'll be my tuxedo, top hat, and cane. You see, I'm living the good life now – I'm a millionaire! Who'd a-thunk it?! A boy from Nowheresville, Louisiana is a mill-yuh-nay-uh!

      Now I promised I wouldn't let this go to my head, it's so unexpected though that it only seems right to splurge a little...but only on for the absolute necessities in life. I think the first necessity that I'll purchase is a pet pygmy hippo for companionship.

      I can now stop walking everywhere and purchase a new method of transportation befitting of my regal legs.

      And to gussy-up my apartment, I believe I'll pick up one or two of these.

      As I walk to the bank to claim my millions, I can't help but to remember my old friends and wonder what they are up to now. Ah, the poor life I used to lead! There's a chance that I'll miss it...but probably not. The only thing left to do is to cash in my gigantic pile of money fit for an Uncle Scrooge money bin...

And then convert it to U.S. Dollars...

?????

...there must be something wrong with the currency conversion...

...hmm...

...like I was saying...I love my old life style and friends, who needs materialism anyways?!

Routine vs Interaction vs Experimentation

       As of one month in, I can't help but to reflect on the time spent here and assess this new life that I live. Things have become routine now as far as physical activities go. Wake up, listen to music (often genres and bands that I took for granted back home because they were always playing the background – The Subdudes, Tommy Malone, Kenny Wayne Shepard, Pat Green), put on a pot of tea, cook breakfast, play guitar, break a sweat while walking to school, teach, eat, teach, eat, teach, eat, walk to the gym, workout, walk home, repeat the morning's activities of music, tea, cooking, and guitar, then lay down only to repeat them all each subsequent day. The weekends offer reprieve from the monotonous weekdays but the fear of stimulation beginning to fade is no concern of mine. I still haven't even begun to dissect all of the culinary possibilities restaurants offer, late night jogs clear my mind, and live music offers aural pleasure in the company of others.

      The companionship of other foreigners also provides rousing opportunities of education and entertainment. I'm still curious as to what one's reasoning could be for moving to the other side of the globe. To leave everything and everyone behind is no easy feat. But we all did it, so why? Was it financial reasons? To run away from something? To delay the office job in a cubicle after college? I know my reasoning but there must be some common denominator between us.

      It merely took one month for communications from back home to slow to a near halt leaving me looking at these foreigners in almost a sociological experiment kind of way. I'm interested in continuing my education of Korean culture but that will require perpetual efforts; with foreigners however, I am infinitely entertained learning how different we are. Not only on a macro scale as in the cities, states, and regions of America we hail from but on a micro level as well (religious affiliation, personal mantras, behavior, habits, beliefs). It's extremely fascinating to say the least, and I'm appreciative of it. Sometimes it feels almost a little too experimental as if setting out to discover what it is that makes us 'human' but then I think about “Dark City,” an absolutely brilliant noir masterpiece of epic cinematic failure, and I'm OK with it (this move was "Inception" before "Inception" was "Inception"). Where the movie failed though, I will try to make sense of it all. Maybe my two month anniversary post will reveal some answers.

Happy One Month Anniversary!

       In an attempt to delve further in to the historic culture of Korea, I spent the weekend at a tea festival. Being an avid fan of tea I was excited to attend, knowing that this was more than just free samples of store bought teas. The festival celebrates the rich and storied past the roll tea has played on the Korean peninsula, mainly with Buddhist monks, for over 2,000 years. There was food, music, historic art on display, and lessons in hosting and serving tea. Of course there were also gorgeously hand-crafted serving cups, kettles, teapots, serving boards, spoons, and teacups. Furthermore, I almost certainly consumed a gallon of hand-picked and home-made tea samples over the course of the weekend. The loose leaf teas covered the entire flavor spectrum ranging from persimmons, mulberries, sweet pumpkin, and wild flowers to dandelions, lotuses, buckwheat, ginseng, and yams*.  What follows is a photographic tour of the 7^th annual Busan Tea Festival.

Upon arriving at the festival, which was both indoors and outdoors at the Busan Cultural Center, I think it’s fair to say that I was slightly conspicuous. This, in turn, made me the local celebrity because the festival promoters desired photographs of the foreigner not only attending but drinking their teas. I eventually made my way to listen to a musician playing an acoustic guitar as well as a traditional Korean orchestra. I then followed a small group of elderly Koreans into one of the exhibition halls to look at the ink wash paintings and ceramic sculptures. I continued trailing behind as we entered a beautiful dining hall set with tables and chairs. I looked out amazed at what was before me and was suddenly shooed out by one of the event’s organizers! As I’d come to find out, that was an official tea tasting ceremony hosted by the monks and was by invitation only…I guess my pseudo-celebrity status only worked outside.

The origin of the name 'Tea Candle'...it was actually used to heat the water for tea.

The highlight of the festival was without a doubt, the impromptu lesson in tea drinking etiquette I received from a stern yet slightly humorous monk. As I walked through his tent admiring his tea sets, he firmly grabbed my arm. His eyes explored my tattoos followed by his gestures of painting in the air, letting me know that he was an artist too and the items before me were his work. He was a master craftsman - hand making, firing, painting, and glazing an assortment of tea sets and well as having his own collection of various teas. As soon as I picked up a cup to sample his tea I apparently offended him. I could easily read the disgust on his face and he motioned for me to set my cup back down. I was shown not only suitable hand placement but proper finger placement as well. Every position from your posture to your fingertips is a very precise, calculated movement. After having my hands and arms slapped as well as picking up and setting down my tea cup repeatedly, I finally seemed to please him despite my former heathenistic ways. We enjoyed a cup of tea and it was then that I realized that he and I were in the most engaging conversation that I have had with a Korean…and a single word wasn’t spoken.

As the festival came to a close, I was left overlooking the city of Busan and the United Nations Memorial Cemetery from high upon a mountainside on a balcony at the Cultural Center. The sun set and the moon rose and I’m sure I’ll return in the near future to attend another event here.

*Interesting note, Louisiana is renowned for its sweet potatoes which, come to find out, are actually yams.  And yes, there is a difference between the two even though I've heard from most Louisianians that they're the same.  They are not.  I've purchase actual sweet potatoes here in Korea and they appear similar on the outside but have white flesh and a different yet still sweet taste.